Banstead Village

On the coach to Belgium

It’s 1957 and a group of boys from Banstead County Secondary School in Picquets Way are in a coach on their way to Belgium. Next stop Dover, then on to Brussels and day trips beyond.

This was the first overseas trip organised by the school. Others were to follow – to the Rhineland in 1960 and then further afield in the later years.

Among the identifiable boys in this photograph are Martyn Walls, Paul Dansey, Howard Ford and Colin Chester. Also towards the rear is one of the teachers leading the trip – Ray Spencer. The second teacher, George Ford, was behind the camera pressing the shutter.

Note the school caps, too – they were maroon, with the circled Woolpack badge in yellow.